


Stay With Me

by rosewaterangel



Category: Hunter X Hunter, The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Afterlife, Bittersweet, Established Relationship, M/M, Trust me on this one, dear god i hate writing summaries just trust me, hxh - Freeform, i actually reread and edited this one are you proud, i only write to make kurapika suffer, leopika - Freeform, that last episode of the good place always hits hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24291094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosewaterangel/pseuds/rosewaterangel
Summary: Even thousands of years spent by each other's sides doesn't feel like enough.But Kurapika has to let him go.
Relationships: Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 10
Kudos: 23





	Stay With Me

**Author's Note:**

> may i interest you in my wares? *churns out content but only about kurapika*

“In all my life, in all the lives I’ve led before, I know that there is no one who has ever made me feel this way.” Kurapika squeezed Leorio’s hands tightly in his. “I… I don’t want this to end. I don’t want you to leave, I—” He bit his lip, trying to force the burning hot tears to stay in his eyes. “I don’t want to be alone again.” He whispered, his thoughts spilling out of his trembling lips, with him totally unable to stop them. “Please, Leorio! Please stay with me!” The tears that had welled up in his eyes spilled over, flowing down his cheeks.

Leorio watched the man he’s loved for… For who even knows how many years now, breaking down in front of him. Don’t think him to be heartless, but no matter how much Kurapika begged him to stay… He’d made up his mind. True serenity filled his soul, and he realized that… There was nothing left for him. Nothing in the universe he had to do.

It was like he was free.

In all honesty, he thought this would be kind of scary. Knowing that his time was nearing its end. But it was so incredibly calming.

“Honey…” He began, gently wiping Kurapika’s tears away with his thumb. “I love you, but I need to do this. … And I know you know that. And I know you love me enough to let me.” He kissed his forehead, his hands running down Kurapika’s arms to reach his hands. “You know I’ll always love you, right?”

“No! That’s the whole thing—When you walk through the door, you… You won’t love me. You won’t remember me.” He whispered, “And I can’t… stand the thought of that.” Stepping into Leorio’s arms, he buried his face in his chest, a halo of blond hair rested under Leorio’s chin. “I thought that we would spend forever together.”

“We did. We spent so many thousands of years together.” He wrapped his arms around him. “And trust me, they were the best thousands of years of my life!”

Kurapika let out a small chuckle, the kind that only comes when someone you love gets you to crack a smile in the way only they know how, even when you haven’t been able to stop yourself from crying. Wiping the snot from his nose on the back of his hand, he looked up at Leorio. “… We could spend thousands more together and I’d never get tired of you.”

“I’m not bored of you. Sweetheart, that isn’t why I’m doing this.” Leorio whispered. “I love you so much, that’s why I’m ready to go.” A small smile spread across his face. “You’re the reason. I’m so lucky to have you, you have no idea. You... You helped me feel truly fulfilled. I feel such calmness inside me, my love. And it’s thanks to you.”

Kurapika tightened his grasp on Leorio, hardly able to wrap his head around the fact that soon, he will never get to feel this warmth and love radiating off of his partner. He was silent for a long time, knowing that he was being so incredibly selfish by trying to make him stay. He so badly wanted to beg him, plead for him to never ever leave. But that would be horribly cruel of him. He couldn’t do that, not to someone he loves so much.

“When did you want to leave?” Kurapika finally relented, the look on his face softening.

“Tomorrow morning.” The words tore open Kurapika’s heart, but if it’s what Leorio wanted…

“Alright, love.” He whispered, closing his eyes. “… Can we go home?” He asked, “I just want to be with you there tonight.” He whispered, leaning on Leorio as they walked back.

Looking around their home, Kurapika thought about all of the time they had spent there together. How every morning they woke up together.

_And how after tomorrow, he will always wake up alone._

How they would cook together in the kitchen, making a mess together. All of the strange but delicious dishes they cooked, and all of the horrible ones too.

Everything inside him was screaming, begging Leorio to stay, but he knew it wasn’t right to ask that of him. To make the man he loves more than anything else suffer just because of his selfishness was unbearable, even more than the thought of losing him.

“What should we have for dinner?” He asked, trying to act like it was a normal day. Kurapika opened the fridge, one hand still holding Leorio’s. “Or would you rather we go out for dinner? We can do whatever you want, hon.” He squeezed his hand tightly. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get rid of the pain in his chest that came from knowing he was going to lose the love of his life. Again. Holy shit, it was going to happen _again_ , oh dear god—

“How about we order something and eat it here?” Leorio suggested, snapping Kurapika out of his spiraling. Leorio kissed his head, bringing him to the couch. “Thank you, love. Thank you for letting me do this.”

Kurapika gave him a small, sad smile. “Of course, honey. I wouldn’t force you to stay.” Even though he did try, and he did still want to. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Leorio pulled Kurapika into his lap. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll get reincarnated. If we do, let’s be frogs. … The water already turned the freakin’ frogs gay, so it won’t be a problem. We’ll find each other again, if that happens. We’ll be in frog love.”

Kurapika sniffled, laughing a bit at his stupid, sappy partner. “Well, sure, but for now I’ll be in human love with you.”

Leorio leaned up a bit to kiss his cheek. “Right back at ya, babe.” His hands rested on Kurapika’s hips, gently rubbing circles with his thumbs. “Alright. What’s your favorite memory, out of all the time we’ve been together?”

It took a moment for him to think, “There are so many. We’ve been together a long time.” He sighed softly, “Maybe… whenever we’d fight and then make the forgiveness cake?” He asked, smiling at the dumb amalgamation of their favorite desserts, all smushed together into one cake. It was such a mess, cupcakes and brownies and cookies all squished together into a ball held together by chocolate sauce and caramel. It was disgusting and delicious and always made with love. “It was so silly and kind of gross. But it always made me remember how much I love you.” He smiled a bit. “Baking in general was really fun. I didn’t know you were so good at it.”

“I’m only good at it because we did it so much. We had to make the forgiveness cake a _lot._ ” He chuckled.

“What was your favorite?” Kurapika asked, leaning forward to rest against Leorio’s chest.

“Waking up next to you. I got to do it every day, and it always made me feel so happy.” He pet Kurapika’s hair, humming softly. “No homo.”

Kurapika rolled his eyes. “This is our last night together, can it be a little homo?”

“As a treat.” Leorio nodded. There was a long, comfortable silence before he whispered “… Thank you, Kurapika. I really want to say thank you.”

“Why? I already told you, you don’t have to thank me for letting you go.”

Leorio shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I mean thank you for loving me for so, so fucking long. I’m so lucky to have you.” He let out a soft, content sigh. “And I know I probably won’t get a chance to say this to you again, and definitely not as the people we are now, so I wanted to get out all the rest of the gushy crap. I love you more than anything.”

“And I love you more.” Kurapika responded, just as he usually did when Leorio said he loved him.

“No. I love you more. Let me have this, I’m second-dying tomorrow.”

Kurapika just rolled his eyes. “Alright, but inside I’ll know I’m right.”

It was quiet once again, Kurapika resting his head on Leorio’s shoulder, trying to soak up the feeling of having him there. He’d gotten the feeling for a couple weeks now that Leorio was going to leave, but he still didn’t feel prepared to see him go.

“Hey, honey?” He asked, not looking up. “… Wake me up before you leave tomorrow. I want to see you one last time.” Kurapika whispered, tears once again filling his eyes, incredibly glad Leorio couldn’t see his face from this angle.

“Of course, baby.” His arms wrapped around Kurapika’s waist, “We can have breakfast together and everything, if you want.”

Kurapika nodded. “That’ll be nice.” He whispered, looking up at Leorio. “What should we order for dinner?”

“I’m always a sucker for burritos.” He suggested, which of course Kurapika went along with. The two of them ate their meals together on the porch, seated right beside each other, laughing and recalling stories of their time together. It almost made them forget that they’ll never see each other again. They fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms, legs braided together, not wanting to be even an inch apart.

The next morning Leorio woke up before Kurapika, watching his sleeping face for a long while, letting him sleep in. It wasn’t something Kurapika ever did when they were alive, and Leorio had decided long ago to always let him sleep as long as he wanted.

As Kurapika opened his eyes to see his husband for the last time, he felt scared. What would it be like with him gone? And what was going to happen to him after he walked through the door? “Morning, love.” He whispered, cuddling up closer to him.

“Good morning, angel.” Leorio kissed the top of his head. “Want to go make breakfast?” He asked, feeling Kurapika’s grip on him tighten a bit more, if that was even possible.

“Mm… Alright.” He whispered, giving him a soft peck on the lips. “What do you want to eat? We can have anything in the world.” Kurapika shot a small smile up at his husband, not wanting to show how terrifying the thought of being alone was. How scared he was to lose him.

The couple made waffles and eggs and sausage together, listening to the radio while they cooked. Leorio stood behind Kurapika at the stove, his arms wrapped around his waist, swaying with him to the beat of the song, leaving a trail of kisses along his neck.

Breakfast went pretty normally that morning, though they did eat a bit slower to take in the moment. The conversation was sparse, not much left to be said besides goodbyes.

After finishing up the meal, they dressed themselves in their favorite clothes, setting out on the long walk to the forest.

The two walked hand in hand, Kurapika forcing himself to keep a smile on his face. This is what Leorio wanted, he didn’t want him to feel guilty for his choice.

As they approached the woods, his heart dropped. It was really starting to set in, how these are their final moments together.

The entrance to the trail was surrounded by beautiful flowers, a beautiful backdrop to say their goodbyes in front of. The two turned towards each other, holding each other’s hands tightly.

“… I… Really hate saying goodbyes.” Leorio started. “But this is goodbye, my darling.”

Kurapika bit the inside of his cheek, keeping the gentle smile on his face. “Goodbye.” He whispered, squeezing Leorio’s hands. “Goodbye, my love.” He repeated. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t keep his hands from trembling. Leorio pulled him in close, pressing their lips together into a deep kiss. When the finally parted, their foreheads pressed together, sharing a soft moment of quietude.

“I love you so much.” Leorio gently held Kurapika’s cheek with one hand. “Promise you won’t forget me?”

“How could I ever forget you?” He whispered, looking into his lover’s eyes. “I love you more.”

Leorio smiled a bit at that, gently rubbing Kurapika’s back. “We’ll see each other again one day. As gay frogs.” He said, his heart filling with love when he heard Kurapika chuckle lightly. His laugh was the best sound in the world to Leorio. On Earth, it was such a rare pleasure to hear, and he would never ever get tired of it.

They stayed like this for a long time, holding onto each other, before Leorio gently pulled away from him.

“I love you, Kurapika.” He smiled, waving a bit at him.

“I love you too, Leorio.” He waved back, holding in the tears as he watched the man he loved disappear into the woods. He stayed there waving at his back, an emptiness filling his stomach as he stared into the last place he would ever see his husband.

“I love you so much.” He whispered, allowing the tears to fall down his face as he knelt on the ground, finally truly letting himself mourn the loss of his husband. He sobbed there for hours, his heart aching in his chest. Deep down, though, he knew. He knew that this is what Leorio wanted.

And he wasn’t going to keep it from him.


End file.
